Brazil captures band trafficking arms to US

BRASILIA (AP) — Brazilian police say seven people have been detained and 22 high-caliber guns and munitions have been seized in an operation targeting a band that trafficked in arms from the U.S. by hiding them inside mattresses.

Federal police in Minas Gerais state said in a statement that five suspects were arrested in Brazil and the other two in the United States, with the help of American officials.

The .762 caliber guns were accompanied by an “enormous quantity of munitions,” the statement said. It said the weapons were to be resold in Brazil, mostly to gangs operating in the slums of Rio de Janeiro and other states.

Authorities say the weapons were transported with the household goods of Brazilians, without their knowledge, as they moved back after living in the United States.

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